Conventionally, there has been known a measurement data processing method capable of automatically and correctly processing data transmitted from a measuring device in a group management system of semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this measurement data processing method, a measuring device communication unit of a group managing unit of the group management system receives various kinds of measurement data transmitted from the measuring device. This measurement data processing method includes the steps of registering formulas for processing the measurement data in advance; upon receiving the measurement data; storing the received measurement data in a measurement data receiving buffer; selecting, among the registered formulas, one formula suitable for processing the measurement data and having at least one same recipe name based on a recipe name contained in the measurement data and storing the selected formula in a formula storing buffer; applying the stored measurement data to the selected formula and performing a calculation thereof; and storing a calculation result in a processed data storing buffer.
Further, the conventional group management system of semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses has a function of displaying time sequential information (hereinafter, referred to as a chart) measured by the semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses.
Further, as a manufacturing apparatus composing the group management system, there is a so-called batch type vertical heat treatment apparatus (see, Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3).
Typically, in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, a manufacturing process is performed according to information indicating a process condition or a process sequence including a manufacturing parameter, which is called a recipe, or the like. Each step composing a sequence of the recipe is called a recipe step or simply called a step. The fault of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus can be determined, when the step is changed, by whether or not a control is performed according to a parameter of the changed step. Therefore, it is possible to recognize the fault of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus by acquiring all measurement information obtained from the measuring device and then monitoring them, within a time period for performing the step.
In the above-stated semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, as one or more steps constituting the recipe, there has often been used information indicating a process sequence composed of a plurality of steps like the recipe, and this information is called a sub-recipe. That is, the recipe uses the sub-recipe, whereby the recipe has a nest structure in which the recipe is included in the recipe by using the sub-recipe. By using the sub-recipe in two or more steps constituting the recipe, it is possible to repeatedly perform, within one recipe, a process composed of a plurality of steps in the sub-recipe. By using the sub-recipe, if a parameter or the like of the sub-recipe is modified, all the parameters of the step having the sub-recipe can be eventually modified so that it becomes easy to set up the recipe.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. H11-354395 (for example, Page 1 and FIG. 1)    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Publication No. 3543996 (for example, Page 1 and FIG. 1)    Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2002-25997 (for example, Page 1 and FIG. 1)